The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (A.B.C) Radio Australia has launched “Pacific Playtime” on Saturdays, its children show for the Pacific region. 

According to an A.B.C  media release, “Pacific Playtime” includes engaging audio for young listeners and will increase news literacy.

The programming aims to teach children across the Pacific region about culture, science, nature and language in a fun, entertaining and compelling way.

On Saturday morning on Radio Australia at 7.30am PNG time, host Matt Smith will play the latest and best of A.B.C kids podcasts.

Every episode starts with ‘Ruby and News Time’, counting down the top news stories of the week, and then Country with Rudi to learn a word from one of Australia’s Indigenous nations with ‘Little Yarns’.

The programming will also seek to educate its young listeners. 

“[Shows will answer] some of our biggest science questions like Why are there waves? And how does our heart beat?,” the release said. 

“Pacific nations skew very young in terms of demographics when compared to their neighbors such as Australia and New Zealand. 

“The huge numbers of children and parents across the Pacific struggle to find Pacific-focused kids’ content on local TV and radio, making Pacific Playtime a unique and much needed addition to the Pacific media landscape.

“These are amazing benefits to be gained from developing strong listening skills, which is particularly relevant for children.”

A.B.C Kids Early Childhood Producer, Laura Stone said that the programming has a strong focus on young listeners: “Our delight in listening begins right from the very start – or just about! At around 25 weeks, babies can respond to what they hear in the womb. Once out in the world, listening is the first language skill most of us acquire.”

According to Ms. Stone, high quality audio resources help children develop new understandings about the world and themselves.

“In particular, language and literacy skills build through engagement with spoken audio leading to exciting improvements in reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension,” she said.

“As many families and early childhood educators are deciding how to balance children’s digital diets, inspiring audio options have become increasingly relevant.” 

Pacific Playtime is designed to engage primary school aged listeners with entertaining and educational audio content.

The show is a collaboration between ABC Kids Listen and Radio Australia which was launched on 19 September 2020.

Pacific Playtime will be broadcast on A.B.C Radio Australia every Saturday morning, 10.30am Samoa time on 102 FM.